Well, it's been half a month since I last wrote. Part of this delay has been because I've been spending oodles of time on facebook, but mostly my lack of blogging activity is due to an increase in end-of-semester schoolwork. I will begin writing more frequently again once the school year ends after the first week of May.
In the interim, the most exciting thing that has happened is that I got an OED! I'm using it to write a paper on the high number (189) of first usages in Robert Herrick's poetry.
Books Acquired Recently
Frank O'Hara. Selected Poems. amazon.com
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. amazon.com
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
An encouraging poetry reading/Books Acquired Recently
This past Friday (4 April 2008) I attended a poetry reading at Northern Illinois University featuring John Bradley, Lucien Stryk, and the current Illinois Poet Laureate, Kevin Stein. The reading was packed, probably close to two hundred people were there, enough that some people had to stand in the back the entire time.
I have heard Bradley read before, and I enjoy listening to him talk about his poems because they often include uncommon-yet-fascinating subject matter, e.g., he has a poem about footnotes.
I have heard a lot about Stryk and about how his poetry is life-changingly influential in many people's lives, but had never read any of his poetry or heard him read before. Sadly, he is old enough now that he could only get his words out at a very slow pace, which hurt the ability of his poems to make much of an impact on the audience if they were not already familiar with his work. I was at a reading three years ago in which W.S. Merwin had the same problem; it just comes with the territory of getting old. But if you are that old and people still want to hear you read your poetry, I guess that is not such a bad way to go.
Quite frankly, I had never heard of Stein before, and I almost laughed when I found out that he is Gwendolyn Brooks' successor. It seems that there would be another poet in Illinois who is more deserving of the honor (Li-Young Lee, anyone?). But once Stein got through his annoyingly self-serving spiel about all he does as poet laureate and began reading his poems, I was rather impressed, enough so that I bought a copy of his latest collection, American Ghost Roses. My favorite Stein poem was "An American Tale of Sex and Death," which includes a description of "Olivia Hussey's / olive chest splashed on screen, each breast maybe / four feet across and deeply cleaved" in Romeo and Juliet. In fifth grade my teacher had us watch Romeo and Juliet because it was the class play for that year (I was Lord Capulet), and I remember when Hussey's breasts flashed on the screen it was breathtaking.
Book Acquired Recently
Kevin Stein, American Ghost Roses.
I have heard Bradley read before, and I enjoy listening to him talk about his poems because they often include uncommon-yet-fascinating subject matter, e.g., he has a poem about footnotes.
I have heard a lot about Stryk and about how his poetry is life-changingly influential in many people's lives, but had never read any of his poetry or heard him read before. Sadly, he is old enough now that he could only get his words out at a very slow pace, which hurt the ability of his poems to make much of an impact on the audience if they were not already familiar with his work. I was at a reading three years ago in which W.S. Merwin had the same problem; it just comes with the territory of getting old. But if you are that old and people still want to hear you read your poetry, I guess that is not such a bad way to go.
Quite frankly, I had never heard of Stein before, and I almost laughed when I found out that he is Gwendolyn Brooks' successor. It seems that there would be another poet in Illinois who is more deserving of the honor (Li-Young Lee, anyone?). But once Stein got through his annoyingly self-serving spiel about all he does as poet laureate and began reading his poems, I was rather impressed, enough so that I bought a copy of his latest collection, American Ghost Roses. My favorite Stein poem was "An American Tale of Sex and Death," which includes a description of "Olivia Hussey's / olive chest splashed on screen, each breast maybe / four feet across and deeply cleaved" in Romeo and Juliet. In fifth grade my teacher had us watch Romeo and Juliet because it was the class play for that year (I was Lord Capulet), and I remember when Hussey's breasts flashed on the screen it was breathtaking.
Book Acquired Recently
Kevin Stein, American Ghost Roses.
Saturday Night Live last night
Last night's Saturday Night Live episode was sadly disappointing. Christopher Walken is usually a great host (probably the third-best SNL host ever behind Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin), but this time he seemed like he was trying too hard to be himself (killingly deadpan), so he ended up coming off as someone doing a bad Christopher Walken impression. Walken's acting was also terrible - he made no effort to hide that he was reading from a teleprompter the entire episode. And in his introduction to Panic at the Disco's second song, he almost forgot their name (which was actually pretty funny, though it wasn't supposed to be).
There were a few high points to the episode: the "Laser Cats" digital short, the opening Clintons sketch, and the Walken family reunion sketch. Otherwise, it was an unsatisfactory show, certainly not one worth looking forward to all week long as I did.
There were a few high points to the episode: the "Laser Cats" digital short, the opening Clintons sketch, and the Walken family reunion sketch. Otherwise, it was an unsatisfactory show, certainly not one worth looking forward to all week long as I did.
facebook, I give you the best minutes of my life
I haven't been blogging much lately, mostly because I am spending most of my leisure computer time on facebook. I wrote recently about how Scrabulous is a major obsession, but, since the Major League Baseball season started last week, updating my Mets cheers and brawling via facebook's fan application is also taking a lot of my time. I reached "Regular" status in less than a week, which I think is quite respectable, especially considering that the majority of Mets fans on facebook are still at the "Bat Boy" or "Rookie" level. The administrators of the application need to update the jerseys, though, since John Maine is the "Rookie" level jersey, and Carlos Delgado is the "Regular" level jersey. Aside from the fact that Maine is no longer a rookie, I'm sure many Mets fans would place Maine ahead of Delgado in terms of their importance for the Mets' success this season. Also, Pedro Martinez is the "Ace" level jersey, and, with no disrespect meant to Pedro, Johan Santana clearly belongs in that category now.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Mets back on track
The Mets' 13-0 win against the Marlins tonight was quite encouraging. The pitching was good, everyone was hitting, and the Mets finally hit a few homers. David Wright's homer was most significant because last season he went over a month before he hit his first one, but now he already has the first one out of the way. Now Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado need to hit their first, and we'll be set.
It is discouraging that Pedro Martinez will be out for 4-6 weeks, but one silver lining is that now Mike Pelfrey has a guaranteed spot in the rotation for now, so he doesn't have to put extra pressure on himself thinking that he'll only have one or two starts to prove himself. Now he can just go out there and focus on each game as it comes.
As I am writing (9.18 p.m. Central Time), Alex Rodriguez just struck out in a clutch situation for the Yankees. It's nice to know that some things never change.
Also, the Phillies lost again tonight.
It is discouraging that Pedro Martinez will be out for 4-6 weeks, but one silver lining is that now Mike Pelfrey has a guaranteed spot in the rotation for now, so he doesn't have to put extra pressure on himself thinking that he'll only have one or two starts to prove himself. Now he can just go out there and focus on each game as it comes.
As I am writing (9.18 p.m. Central Time), Alex Rodriguez just struck out in a clutch situation for the Yankees. It's nice to know that some things never change.
Also, the Phillies lost again tonight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)